The 19-year-old rookie put the Mavericks ahead for good with a three-pointer early in the second half before getting one of his five assists on a jump-pass from nearly half court out of a double team to DeAndre Jordan for a dunk as Dallas built its lead to nine going to the fourth quarter.

Doncic's solid 8-of-14 shooting night would have been even better without a couple of wild misses on three-pointers, including a high-arching launch from 32 feet in his fourth game with at least 30 points. He finished four points shy of his career-high.

The Slovenian still went 4-of-9 from beyond the arc with a four-point play in the first half, but made just 10 of his career-high 16 free-throw attempts. He had six rebounds.

T.J. Warren scored 20 points for the Suns, who led by eight in the first half before falling a night after ending a six-game losing streak with a 21-point rally in a 115-111 home victory over Sacramento. Scoring leader Devin Booker missed the Kings game and was out again in Dallas with back spasms.

Phoenix is a combined 1-13 in back-to-back pairs — 1-6 on the front end and 0-7 on the back. It was the Suns' first loss to Dallas since a 113-108 defeat in Mexico City almost two years ago. Two of their 10 wins this season came against Dallas at home, including the season opener.

Suns rookie Deandre Ayton, drafted two spots ahead of Doncic as the No. 1 overall pick, spent the second half in foul trouble and finished with six points, five rebounds along with five fouls.

Two other Suns (Josh Jackson and Elie Okobo) had five fouls, and guard De'Anthony Melton fouled out with 7:06 remaining. Jackson scored 17 points, but just two after halftime.

Harrison Barnes scored 17 points for Dallas, making all 10 of his free throws to offset 3-of-11 shooting. Wesley Matthews had 12 of his 14 points in the second half, including a banked-in triple for a 96-84 with three minutes to go.

TIP-INS

Suns: Jamal Crawford didn't play, delaying him from becoming the 22nd player with 1,300 games for his career. ... The Suns shot 43 percent, ending a three-game streak of shooting at least 50 percent. The last four-game streak for Phoenix was in January 2015. ... Richaun Holmes had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 14 a night after matching his career high of 26.

Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki was ill and missed his fourth game since his season debut at Phoenix on Dec. 13 (Dec. 14, PHL time). Before setting an NBA record by appearing in his 21st season with the same franchise, the 40-year-old missed the first 26 games recovering from ankle surgery last April. ... G Dennis Smith Jr. was out with back tightness, the 13th game he's missed this season. Most were because of a right wrist sprain.

UP NEXT

Suns: Denver at home Saturday night (Sunday, PHL time) before playing seven of the next nine games on the road.